Georges Taï Benson

Georges Taï Benson was born on 25 January 1946 in Treichville, Abidjan, then in French West Africa, to a jeweller father and a housewife mother. Public biographies describe a very large extended family: twenty-eight children on his father's side and twelve on his mother's. He attended primary school in Grand-Lahou from 1952 to 1958, then secondary school in Abidjan until he was expelled for indiscipline in the fifth form. Drawn to the stage, he studied dramatic arts on the Plateau and entered the Institut National des Arts.

Benson joined RTI with Rythme et tradition and became a defining presenter and producer of Ivorian television across the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He created or fronted shows including Benson reçoit, Bonjour c'est dimanche and Variétoscope. In 1979 he negotiated with Bob Marley's circle in Miami for Abidjan concerts that were later cancelled. He produced Alpha Blondy's Jah Glory (1982-1983), helped launch talents including Chantal Taïba and Aïcha Koné, and was linked to the RTI orchestra. He also served as chargé de mission to the President of the Republic. The Super Prix of the RTI Music Awards later took his name.

Benson kept much of his private family life out of the press; obituaries after 2026 named no spouse or children. Publicly he presented himself as a cultural autodidact who prized recognition in life rather than after death, a line Fraternité Matin recalled with his phrase about homages "à titre costume." He celebrated roughly fifty years in television around 2015, spoke to ISTC journalism students in January 2019, and later remained active through the Moundo Festival and Zouglou Dance Festival. Colleagues such as Barthélémy Inabo Zouzoua remained close collaborators across decades at RTI.

Georges Taï Benson died on 25 September 2026 at the Institut de cardiologie d'Abidjan, aged 80. The Agence Ivoirienne de Presse reported the death the same day; Fraternité Matin said the announcement circulated around 18:30 and that a family source confirmed it by telephone. RTI Infos wrote that he had been fighting heart disease for several years after admission to ICA emergency care. A formal cause of death was not made public in the first wave of obituaries. Collaborators including Barthélémy Inabo spoke of shock tempered by knowledge that he had been seriously ill; funeral arrangements were to be announced by the family.

Benson is remembered as a pioneer of Ivorian public television and as a talent-maker who linked reggae, dance and national broadcasting. Variétoscope remains among the country's longest-lived entertainment formats. Artists he backed, from Alpha Blondy onward, and presenters he trained or inspired, mark a lasting imprint on Côte d'Ivoire's audiovisual culture. The RTI Music Awards Super Prix trophy that bears his name keeps his credit on air, and cultural prizes such as Benson d'or have kept his surname in the festival calendar.

After his expulsion from secondary school, Benson rebuilt his path through arts training rather than a conventional baccalaureate track. He completed theoretical studies at the Office de coopération radiophonique in Paris (about eighteen months) and practical training with France's radiophonic cooperation services. He returned to Côte d'Ivoire on 11 December 1965 and took up his RTI post on 16 December 1965. In a 2019 ISTC conference he recalled entering journalism younger than the usual age and without the formal BAC level then required, calling himself an autodidact who forced destiny toward the screen.

Benson argued that television should promote culture before mere distraction. He pressed for decorations and tributes while artists were still alive, repeating that he wanted "hommages à titre costume et non à titre posthume." At ISTC in 2019 he told students to be passionate, cultivate general knowledge, learn animation and video editing as parts of one craft, and treat the internet as a gathering of the world's libraries. Asked about newer television generations, he answered that he sometimes did not watch television "de peur de désapprendre," while still urging them to do more in a competitive media environment.

Benson is remembered as a pioneer of Ivorian public television and as a talent-maker who linked reggae, dance and national broadcasting. Variétoscope remains among the country's longest-lived entertainment formats. Artists he backed, from Alpha Blondy onward, and presenters he trained or inspired, mark a lasting imprint on Côte d'Ivoire's audiovisual culture. The RTI Music Awards Super Prix trophy that bears his name keeps his credit on air, and cultural prizes such as Benson d'or have kept his surname in the festival calendar.

Authoritative obituaries and French Wikipedia list Benson as Chevalier of the National Order of Côte d'Ivoire, Officier du mérite sportif, Chevalier du mérite agricole, and holder of the French Médaille d'or de la jeunesse et des sports. Some memorial profiles also mention Grand Officier du Mérite culturel. The Super Prix of the RTI Music Awards is named for him. In 2019 ISTC Polytechnique organised a public homage around his seventy-third birthday, and in January 2026 La Télé d'Ici staged a living tribute programme with him as guest.

For decades Benson's voice and bearing were inseparable from RTI's entertainment brand. Variétoscope became a school-holiday ritual and a launchpad for dance crews from Abidjan and the interior. Multi-part LEITMOTIV interviews on Abidjan.netTV in 2015, the Abidjan.netTV jubilee for his fifty years on air, RTI archive programmes such as C'est ça la télé, and posthumous RTI and Alpha Blondy tributes keep him visible to younger viewers. Nickname GTB ("djitibi") circulated among colleagues and fans.

Benson's 1979 Miami approach to Bob Marley was remembered as a political and commercial risk in an era of tight conventions, even though the Abidjan concerts never materialised. His production of Alpha Blondy's Jah Glory, including Brigadier Sabari, placed him beside a song that challenged police violence and helped launch a global reggae star. In later years some online commentary recycled sharp political soundbites attributed to him; serious obituaries focus instead on his cultural record and his insistence on living recognition for artists.